


Dealing in Company

by panther



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panther/pseuds/panther
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pansy soon learns there is not room at the top for everyone and she doesn't have a seat at the table. In a world led by Voldemort and controlled by purebloods she finds herself working as a harassed barmaid and turns to drugs to cope. She's too sensible to become addicted though right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dealing in Company

There is only so much room for people at the top and Pansy learns that quickly, right after she learns she is never going to be one of them. It is only after the Mudbloods are kicked out of Hogwarts and registered, before having their wands snapped and packed off to prison, that she realises just how many Purebloods there are. They had always seemed outnumbered and it seemed obvious that there would be a place at the table for each and every one of them. Instead she is tossed out into the cold. They quickly realise that the Mudbloods that didn't go crawling back to the Muggle world after graduation were the ones doing the menial jobs that kept their society ticking over. They were the harassed cleaners and underpaid barmaids. Now there was a gap to fill and a power struggle erupted between the Purebloods that survived the bloody end to the war. Pansy has a pure bloodline but her family have done nothing important enough to give her an advantage and she tumbles down the ladder at an alarming pace. She wanted too much and was stupid enough to demand it. She becomes the underpaid barmaid listening to wizards like Goyle and Crabbe, that she used to boss around, debate the status of her tits as she gets summons their drinks from behind a grubby bar. 

She does it because there is nothing else to do and because the Dark Lord has killed more than one witch who was stupid enough to question her position. She's not the Queen of the World but at least she isn't in a body bag. Working in a bar means she hears things she wouldn't elsewhere. There is a new drug on the market and they say it is like imperio by choice. It dulls the senses so you don't think about what you're doing and instead you just do it. You can function and interact but you don't _feel_. Pansy thinks of the grades her tits get and the slaps on the arse as she walks past summoning glasses. Those comments hurt and she doesn't want to hear them never mind feel them, so she asks for a name.

She doesn't get one but she goes get a time and a place. 

*

When she sees who is waiting for her, down a side street off Knockturn, she almost turns around and leaves. Then she remembers that while she has fallen from grace she sure hasn't fallen that low and it gives her confidence and the upper hand. 

"Parkinson." It is a both a greeting and an accusation. It contains no humour or judgement. He just wants to know if she is for real. Just because Pansy hasn't played the game before doesn't mean she is ignorant of the rules. 

"Weasley. You know why I'm here." Pansy states, shoving her hands in the pockets of her cloak and glancing up the alley. It is disserted. Of course it is. This isn't legal after all and she's hear enough to know Ron Weasley has been at this long enough to avoid the law. Whatever that means these days. 

"Actually I don't." He replies gruffly and that is when she notices the shabbiness of his robes and how pale his cheeks are. He is not on the top of his own type of work either then. "I deal in many things. Whatever needs getting a hold of really. Bloody hell, these days you can't be choosey or have morals you know?"

Pansy wonders if Granger is still alive and if Weasley is shielding her somewhere. He could easily be selling whatever he has to that isn't quite himself to support them both. Plenty have gone that way and it makes Pansy's stomach roll because Purebloods were meant to be so much better than everyone else and then she would see people she went to school with selling themselves for a few pieces of silver. 

"I don't know the name of it. They say it is like imperio."

A sad smile crosses Weasley's face and suddenly Pansy is enraged because no matter how far she falls she will still always be better than a blood traitor. Who the hell is he to feel pity for her? 

"Expensive stuff but it will do the job. And that is the name. Imperio." Weasley snorts, begins to rummage through his pockets, while shaking his head. "I don't know who came up with that. It is what it is though."

He produces a packet and finds Pansy already holding out the exact money. It isn't cheap as Weasley says but she can't do this on her own anymore. She can't confront her own reality so she won't bother. 

He hands her the pills and is gone before they are tucked safely into her bag. 

*

Like many who start on a drug Pansy thinks she can handle it and won't get addicted. She promises herself it won't be her and the drug is only for work. It is for the greasy wizards who leer at her like she's nothing more than a piece of meat rather than a witch who grew up being waited on hand and foot. The after effects are more than she ever expected though. She realises the rest of her life is just as shit as her work. After she finishes her shift she goes home to an empty family mansion that she has to clean herself and eats alone in a dining room that could seat a government. She is the girl that sold out Harry Potter and that was supposed to bring her everything until she opened her mouth and ruined it all. Now she's hardly more than a social pariah.   
Her parents were rich. Their lives were built upon connections and now she has burned all those bridges. The more Imperio she takes the further her finances are stretched and the more she takes the more she wants. Her hands shake when she tries to do a shift without it and mentally she feels ready to snap at any moment. By the time she realises she is a drug addict it is too late to break the habit alone. She needs potions she can't afford at hospitals she is too ashamed to check in to. 

It is Weasley she turns her anger on though deep down she knows the only person she can blame is herself. She knew the drug was addictive. She was just too damn arrogant . He is the one handing the drug over though and so she blames him until he doesn't turn up one day and she ends up crying in her bedroom while shivering and feeling sick. 

When she goes the next day to meet him she all but throws him into the wall behind him and starts screaming, not caring who could hear.  
"You're not the only one with problems. Bloody hell Parkinson, you think I want this as my life? Take some on me and go calm fucking down. You're a wreck and one that is going to get us both fucking arrested."

And she is.

She is growing gaunt and pale. She doesn't know how to function with feelings anymore. When her money runs out she can think just straight enough to pay her rent before Weasley but she still goes and falls to her knees in front of him. 

"No money, no drugs. Plus, you're the last person I'd do a deal for." Weasley scoffs at her.

"But I need it! You gave me it before!"

"You all need it, Parkinson. I can't do you all favours all of the time." He states before pushing her to the side and Apparating away. Pansy is left on her knees in the gutter of the street and it seems so fitting that she bursts into tears. 

*

She goes three days before she cracks and goes to Weasley again. It is only one more day until she is paid but she can't wait. She sees another cloaked figure take something from Weasley and then disappear as she approaches and hopes the business will have Weasley in a good mood.

"Now, I know when you get paid Parkinson and it hasn't been since the last time I saw you."

"I'm not here to offer you money." Pansy mutter, steeling herself internally. "I'm here to offer you something more.... _enjoyable_."

He raises an eyebrow and Pansy is reminded of the boy she went to school with and the way he'd look at Granger and Potter when they were doing something stupid. "You think this is the first time I've heard that one? Leave off, Parkinson."

"You live on your own. Your own family won't have anything to do with you anymore and most of them are dead anyway. You haven't been in a relationship in years. I work in a pub Weasley, I hear things. You're lonely. I can fix that and I won't shop you in." Pansy states, fabricating more confidence into her voice than she feels. 

"You don't know anything about me, Parkinson."

"No, but I know how my life has been and I was supporting the Dark Lord. I can imagine yours. We're both lonely, Weasley, both outcasts in the world."

"Go home, Parkinson. This sort of story never ends well. Dealers and users. It never works," Weasley says.

"My life doesn't work anyway. I can be of use to you, Ron. Like I said, I work in a pub. I know people and I hear things and I can help you. I just need a little...additional help. This drug is addictive and it is making me weak and look a little shit but it doesn't kill people. I won't die on you. I won't leave you," she says passionately. The thoughts had been turning over in her mind for days. Sleep never comes when she's in withdrawal so she's done a lot of thinking. She doesn't want to be alone anymore. She is tired of dreaming of meeting someone she never will. She's reached the bottom, or just about. 

"Bloody hell," Weasley breathes out, rubbing at his eyes with the palms of his right hand and muttering to himself. He rocks back on his heels and he looks to the skies and Pansy knows she has hit a nerve and a raw one at that. Half the Weasley family is dead and the other certainly won't be associating with the family drug dealer. People leave drug dealers. Pansy won't leave because she has nowhere to go and no one else to be with. Sex for drugs and as stable a relationship as they can throw together. Ron Weasley won't expect her to feel things she doesn't want to anymore and Pansy certainly won't ask him to quit his job for her. It isn't much but they can give each other more than they can form on their own. 

He nods, shoves a packet into her hand, and says he will be around at dinner time with food. Pansy feels a little like she has sold what is left of her soul. Part of her thinks there is no turning back now but she is probably long past that point if she is honest with herself. Weasley knows where she lives apparently but more importantly he knows who she really is. That is something at least. Plus, she has the drugs in her pocket. Time to go and put her nice robes on. For once she is going to have company.


End file.
